.44 Magnum for Elk

[nontactical]

I have taken half a dozen big game animals with handguns now and FWIW here is my a$$*le.... er, I mean opinion.

A handgun bullet has a lot more in common with an arrow than it does with a rifle bullet. You are poking a hole in vital organs to cause blood loss, thereby killing the animal. This is in contrast to the hydrostatic shock that will cause an animal hit with a high powered rifle to fall over dead almost instantly. You need the handgun bullet to carry enough energy to reliably penentrate far enough to cause this injury. I don't remember where I picked this up, but a long time ago someone told me that to shoot an animal with a handgun ethically, at the moment of impact it should still have double the energy (in ft/lbs) of the weight of the animal. I have treated this factoid as gossip, and I have yet to make a kill that I didn't consider clean and ethical.

Ballistic coefficient info is avail. on all bullet manufacture's websites, if you are shooting factory ammo so is rough velocity (for handloading, find someone with a chrono). With these two peices of info and the average weight of whatever you are shooting at (cow elk, buck deer, etc), you can calculate your maximum distance to target, and it will amaze you how close you really need to be. I took my first couple of handgun-shot animals with a 44mag, and then upgraded to a 454 and finally to a 460 xvr. This is not to say that you can't kill the heck out of something with a 44mag, just be very careful with your yardages.

Also, forget the JHPs for anything other than humans. Think about it; a 44 caliber solid is larger than an expanded 30cal bullet. Take the reliable penetration (and better BC) of a solid.


I also think long and hard about where the animal can go after the hit. So far, I have been really lucky in that every animal that I have shot with a sidearm has been dead within a matter of seconds or minutes, but you have to think like a bowhunter and not shoot at anything that is really close to a property boundry or an impenetrable (to humans) forest.

On kind of a cool side note, with the load that I developed with my 460xvr, I can ethically shoot a deer well over 150 yards (as far as energy is concerned) so I practice all the time on paper plates out to this distance, and set 150 as my maximum. Last year I hit my buck at 128 yards (prone with a bipod), he took about ten steps and 30 seconds to fall over dead.

Happy hunting! There is nothing like shooting something that big with a handgun.

[dbfoerster]

All good info from everyone. This is why I love everyone on this site

[GETTYLEIGH]

I carry my .44, along with my 30-06 in the woods. As a back up, I bring my semi auto .44 carbine, just in case I break the stock on my bolt action or something stupid happens. I look at it this way; by the time I get my 30-06 scoped on something that is within 100 yards, I can line up the sights on my pistol and knock it down within that range. Hell, the pistol only weighs 39 ounces plus the cartridges. The reality is, I think I started carrying it while hunting in case a bear jumps out at me. My brother had one sneak up on him when he was sitting, the bear got to within 25 feet of him before he knew it was there. Scary stuff! Yet he took the time to take pics instead of beatin' feet . . . dummy! If he'd not of had the pics, nobody in camp would have believed him . . . that was his logic.

[TennVol]

If you really want to use your .44 mag, try this load "330-GR SUPER-HARD-CAST GC LONG-HAMMERHEAD AT 1400-FPS" from these guys: http://www.garrettcartridges.com/products.asp

They say a Ruger can handle the pressure this load will generate.

[Bill]

For Elk
you should use a Core bonded bullet, Sold copper bullet, Heat treated Lead with gas check or a Sold Brass bullet.

Hornady 300gr xtp may not work people tell me that the jacket comes off too easy. Barnes makes 225gr sold copper bullet that does good

on ammo Cor Bon makes a great line for the 44mag and Grizzly has a great line of boned core and sold brass "called the PUNCH" 44 mag ammo

[rondog]

Just curious here, but does the above all go for a .44 Mag. rifle too? I have a Win. Trapper in .44 Mag. I don't plan on hunting with it, but wondered how well it would do? I do know that the longer barrel is supposed to give better speed and energy and all that, but don't know the particulars.

[GETTYLEIGH]

Just curious here, but does the above all go for a .44 Mag. rifle too? I have a Win. Trapper in .44 Mag. I don't plan on hunting with it, but wondered how well it would do? I do know that the longer barrel is supposed to give better speed and energy and all that, but don't know the particulars.

Here is a general idea from Hornady . . .

http://www.hornady.com/store/44-Mag-...EVERevolution/